Friday, April 03, 2009

Epiphany

One of the things I love about knitting as a craft and a hobby is that I am continually learning and discovering new things. Part of the reason that I find knitting the same item twice to be boring sometimes has to do with the fact that I enjoy the challenge of a new pattern or a new technique.

Right now I am in the beginning stages of crafting an afghan for Wes and me. It is going to be a good year-long project most likely, and involves a very large and complicated chart (held together with packing tape!). Tonight, after already knitting 30 some-odd rows (out of 500) I had a minor epiphany.

Most knitters knit stitches from the left needle onto the right needle. That is, they insert the right needle into a stitch on the left needle, work the stitch and transfer the resulting new stitch to the right needle. Because of this, most patterns and especially most lace patterns (in charts) are worked from right to left.

I learned how to knit from a right-handed knitter, but I am left-handed. This means that I insert the left needle into stitches on the right needle, create the new stitch and transfer it to the left needle. Now for years I have been knitting charts from right to left, with the resulting pattern being the mirror opposite of how most people finish the garment. It has just occurred to me in the last few days that I could knit charts from left to right and produce the exact same pattern, rather than the mirror opposite. I know... DUH, but it's a major epiphany and excites me to no end!

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In other news, I realize that in my happiness yesterday I forgot to mention a few details. I don't normally discuss work on here in specific terms for fear of being Dooced, but I will say this. I am extremely happy about this job because it provides me an opportunity to continue the kind of work that I was doing with USC; namely to help brilliant researchers do their research. As of April 20, I will be joining the Office of the General Counsel at the Stowers Institute for Biomedical Research.